All that was left to do for pupils today was to attend ceremonies marking National Day and pick up their report cards.

A total of 167,751 primary and 75,500 secondary pupils will then go on extended break running until the start of the new school year on 1 September.

High school graduates will in effect have two extra months off, as they completed their school-leaving exams on 25 May and university is due to start on 1 October.

In a message to the pupils on Wednesday, Education and Sport Minister Maja Makovec Brenčič wished them a fun-filled summer. She also expressed thanks to teachers and other school staff for their efforts in the past school year.

The minister told an interview with the STA that the next year will bring some important changes. The introduction of foreign languages into second grades of primary school will continue and be upgraded to include some schools where foreign language teaching will begin in first grade.

While there have been doubts as to whether schools would find enough qualified teachers in time, Makovec Brenčič said that the number of schools applying for what is currently a voluntary system did not exceed the number of teachers available to teach English and German.

She said she was confident that schools would be able to find or train staff by the time the system will become compulsory for all second-year primary students at the start of the 2016 school year.

In secondary education the priority will be to conduct a review of the school network and current curricula. The minister said that the main priority is to seek which would better align school work with the needs of business and the ability of pupils to get ready for work life.

The goal is to better prepare pupils for university and for work, including to upgrade traineeships for secondary professions, she said.